September 5, 2018

Kavanaugh’s Senate Hearing Begins

“Chaos engulfed the U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, as Democrats on Tuesday complained bitterly about Republicans withholding documents about the nominee’s past White House service and shouting protesters were arrested in droves." (Reuters)

From the Left

The left is condemning the lack of transparency, and has many concerns about Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

From the Right

The right supports Kavanaugh’s confirmation and dismisses Democratic objections as delaying tactics rather than good faith efforts to evaluate Kavanaugh’s qualifications.

“The last-minute release of the 42,000 pages of documentsappeared to be an attempt to counter criticism of the secrecy that has surrounded this nomination. But, as Senate minority leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) has noted, the release of some but not all of the needed documents on the eve of the confirmation hearing only ‘underscores just how absurd this process is.’”

The Nation

Dated but relevant: “If it were the American Civil Liberties Union that put together a list for Hillary Clinton, you could bet the Republicans would demand every scrap of paper and demand its officials appear for testimony under oath. Republicans are making this much harder than it needs to be. Get the documents, put them out and take the vote."

Finally, many are noting that “never before has a president made a Supreme Court nomination with so many matters of deep personal importance to that president poised to come before the court... [If the Senate] pushes forward with the nomination under these circumstances, it will exacerbate the dangers for our democracy already posed by Trump’s attacks on the rule of law and on those charged with neutrally implementing it.”

Politico

From the Right

The right supports Kavanaugh’s confirmation and dismisses Democratic objections as delaying tactics rather than good faith efforts to evaluate Kavanaugh’s qualifications.

“Expectations were low for Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, and Senate Democrats on Tuesday wasted no time meeting them... Democrats portray Mr. Kavanaugh as some Trumpian legal gargoyle, but he’s the epitome of a mainstream legal conservative that any GOP President would have had on his short list."

“A number of Democrats refused to take a meeting with Kavanaugh during his visits to Capitol Hill in recent weeks. If Kavanaugh’s record is ‘immensely troubling,’ why not meet to confront him on it?... It couldn’t be clearer. Senators like [Cory] Booker and Harris aren’t interested in vetting Supreme Court nominees, they’re interested in running in 2020 against Trump."

The Hill

“Democrats are engaged in nothing more than a desperate effort to delay a confirmation vote on Kavanaugh until next year, when they hope to control the Senate by winning a majority in the November midterm elections. Their stalling tactics have nothing to do with Kavanaugh’s qualifications – they have everything to do with the anti-Trump resistance and turning out the Democratic base to vote in November."